I absolutely adore the name [name_f]Iona[/name_f]. It is my absolute favourite girls name and I would love to be able to use this name for a potential future daughter. Only issue I have is my surname. We already have 6 children who all have the surname as do my husband and I. The surname begins with an animal and ends with a ‘ton’ I can’t unhear ‘I own a… And then the animal’ I’m sure most wouldn’t make the connection, my other children have never had any issue with their surname.
Perhaps I’m over thinking it.
Does this make the name unusable? I’ve even thought we could potentially double barrel [name_f]Iona[/name_f] but I’m not a fan of [name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f] etc
I think it depends on what the name sounds like with the surname. I wouldn’t recommend “[name_f]Iona[/name_f] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m]” for example, but something like “[name_f]Iona[/name_f] Wolfston” might work fine because the “[name_m]Wolf[/name_m]” sound is less prominent.
I have this issue too. [name_f]Iona[/name_f] is one of my favourites, and we have a strong Scottish connection, but our surname is basically two nouns For me, that did rule it out, but I don’t think it absolutely has to, especially since your surname ends in a distinctive surname suffix.
I’d agree about not messing around with [name_f]Iona[/name_f]; its simplicity and fluidity is a big part of its beauty, and I think double-barrelling it (especially with the ubiquitous [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f] or [name_f]Mae[/name_f]) spoils that somewhat.
Have you considered using [name_f]Ione[/name_f] instead?
That said, I don’t think something like [name_f]Iona[/name_f] Foxton or [name_f]Iona[/name_f] Bearton sounds that bad. Most people wouldn’t make the connection and if they did maybe they’d make a quick comment/joke about it and get over it.
I think the fact it ends in ‘ton’ means you could get away with it.
Alternatively, there’s [name_f]Ilona[/name_f], [name_f]Flora[/name_f], [name_f]Viola[/name_f], [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] and [name_f]Twyla[/name_f] which give me similar vibes and sounds
Thankyou for your replies. I’m so pleased with them! Myself and my husband both love the name, which is a rarity when it’s came to naming our children! I agree with the hyphen, I’d hate to spoil the name as it is simply beautiful on its own. Fingers crossed for a baby [name_f]Iona[/name_f] in the near future.